Keeping Claire

Chapter Seven

Helloooooo! Hope you guys are having a good week! Here is Chapter Seven!!! YAYYYY! Ha:) Please let me know what you think! I want suggestions and constructive criticism, so please don't be shy! You guys are the best!<3 (Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes!!!)

Stay Sane and Beautiful<3

XOXO

                Chapter Seven

Cody’s POV-

                My heart melted at her words. I picked her up off the counter with ease. She gasped softly. I walked from there to the living room. I sat her sown on the couch and walked over to a attack of movies that were sat on the table next to the TV.

                “What movie do you wanna watch?” I asked.

                I turned around to see that she was crying.

                I walked back to the couch and sat down next to her, pulling her into my lap. “Why are you crying?” I whispered into her ear. She started trembling again. I started rocking her back and forth.

                Finally, she looked at me with tears in her eyes and scattered all over her face. “You deserve someone better than me, Cody. I’m not even a girl, I’m the shell of a girl that used to be happy.”

                “Stop that.” I looked at her. “Let me tell you something, Claire. For the past month, I have gone into that CD shop just to see your smiling face every day. That was the best part of my day. I’m not going to sit here and let you tell me that you aren’t good enough for me, because it’s the other way around. I can’t think clearly when I’m around you. You make a room brighter when you walk into it. I want to be yours, and only yours.” I ended with pecking her on the lips.

                She started sobbing again. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew my past.”

                “Well, I don’t know you’re past, but I want to. I want to know everything about you. I will listen when you’re ready to tell me.” I said.

                A smiled played with the end of her lips. “Just promise me, right here, right now, that you aren’t doing this just because of some charity case or because you pity me.”

                I took her head between my hands. “I solemnly promise to you, Claire Williams, that I am doing this purely because slowly but surely, I am falling for you and I want to be yours, and I want you to be mine.”

                She smiled. “I’ve got some popcorn in the kitchen.”

                “Pick out a movie and I’ll go make some.” I said as I kissed her on the forehead.

Claire’s POV-

                He cares, I think. I hope. Maybe he’s what I need.

I heard him put the popcorn in the microwave as I browsed over the many movies I owned. I watched a lot of movies to keep from thinking about dark things.

I almost committed suicide this afternoon. I started crying again. Eventually he was going to ask me about my past. Eventually I was going to have to tell him. I guess I could go ahead and get it out of the way.

I decided to go with Pitch Perfect. Sure it was a chick flick, but it was funny. I needed to laugh. And for the first time in a long time, I wanted to laugh.

I wanted to be able to go out, and have a good time, just like last night. I wanted to live life at large and be thankful for each and everything; even life itself. I wanted to smile. I had to tell Cody.

Conveniently, he walked into the room with two cokes and the bag of popcorn in his hands. God, his hands were so big!

It was now or never. “Hey Cody.” I said.

“Yes?” He replied.

“Before we go any further with this, I think I should tell you about my past and why I’m so..” I winced at the word, so did he. “..depressed.”

He sat down and patted his lap, signaling me to come and sit. I did so. He watched me intently as I began. “You’re the first person I’ve told this to. I never really had friends in school. I had people that I would sit with at lunch and study with, but no absolute best friends that I told EVERYTHING to.

“I was an only child, and I lived with my mom and my dad in a two bedroom apartment in New York City. My dad was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder when I was eighteen. He could usually keep it under control along with medication. My mom was always careful what she said around him, not wanting to set him off.

“But one night she did, accidentally. He started yelling at the dinner table and mom gave me a plate and told me to go wait in my room and she would come in a minute, after she calmed my dad down. Problem is, she never calmed him down,” At this point I was trembling uncontrollably and tears were streaming down my face. Cody was rubbing my back, trying to make me feel better. I appreciated his effort and continued, “He k-killed her, right there in our living room, where, two months earlier, I had opened my Christmas p-p-presents. That’s when I decided to run away. So I packed my bag as full as I could get it.

“There was a fire escape right next to my window. So I climbed out then down. After that I walked. I kept walking all night. I walked through Times square, watching all those cute couples taking pictures with each other and kissing. Then I saw al the small children with their mothers and fathers. I was jealous of their happiness. I envied the way they all walked with nothing but happiness in their hearts.” I paused because at this point, tears started pooling in his eyes as well. I started coughing so he reached over and opened a coke. Then he handed it to me. I smiled in appreciation.

“I think I walked for three days straight. Just roaming the lonely streets of New York. Then I came across this older couple in the park. When I walked by them, they said hello to me. I nodded and said hello back. They asked if I was okay, probably because my face was red from how much I had been crying.

“So I told them everything. I mean, I had nothing to lose. Then they did the unthinkable. They took me in. they said that as long as I kept a job that I could stay as long as I needed to. So I stayed with them for six months, I think. Then as if it were just my luck, they both died.

“I think I cried harder than their kids did at their funerals. So after that while I was sitting there trying to decide what to do, I got a call from my uncle on my mom’s side. He said that he had been trying to find me for as long as I had been gone. I met with him and then he told me about this place. He said that I was welcome to stay here as long as I stayed out of trouble. I agreed then moved here shortly after.” I said. Cody was silent, so I went on.

“Little did I know, this is where Kayla brooks lives. She has hated me since eighth grade for some reason. So every now and then I get a text from her saying that I’m a useless, slutty piece of shit that wastes space on the Earth.” I started to cry again. Cody wrapped his arms around me. I welcomed his warmth.

He looked at me. “Is that why you, you know, did that this afternoon?”

I started trembling as I nodded my head. He hugged me even tighter. Then he whispered in my ear. “Well, I think that you’re perfect. So why don’t we cheer you up and watch Pitch Perfect?”

 I smiled faintly.